We turn into paranormal investigators, check out the “world’s scariest” haunted spot in the U.K.

Using a Japanese ghost-hunting device, we find out if Chillingham Castle is as haunted as they say.

Do you believe in ghosts? There are lots of urban legends and ghost stories throughout the world, but what do you think of them? Are they just stories, or is there some grain of truth behind them?

Having conducted amateur paranormal investigations numerous times, we are interested in finding some proof of the paranormal. That’s why we were excited to have the opportunity to check out what’s called the “world’s scariest” haunted location, Chillingham Castle in the U.K. But we didn’t go alone; we brought a trusty ghost hunting device to help us find the ghosts haunting this old castle!

Chillingham Castle is in northern England, near the border of Scotland. It saw plenty of battles throughout the history of Scottish and English animosity, and is known to have been a place of imprisonment, torture and execution for many Scotsmen over its almost 900 years of history. It has a pretty bloody reputation; a quick Google search for the castle will come up with gruesome titles like “ghost castle”, “blood-soaked castle”, and “cursed castle”.

So during his travels in the U.K., our Japanese language reporter Seiji Nakazawa took a break from trying to be a rock god and visited Chillingham Castle to see if any spooky entities would appear before him. Even at the brightly lit entrance, he thought the castle had a strange air about it, though for ow there were no ghosts, just plenty of tourists.

To help him make contact with any spirits, Seiji brought a special ghost-detecting device: the “Baketan Reiseki”.

The first part of the name fuses the word “obake (お化け)”, which is generally translated as “ghost”, with the character for “to search”, “tan (探)”, while the second part combines the characters for “spirits”, “rei (霊)”,  and “stone”, “seki (石)”. So as you might guess, the Baketan Reiseki is a small, stone-shaped device that senses the presence of spirits. Apparently it’s made of cracked quartz. Seiji didn’t know how it worked, but it sounded pretty cool, so he decided to order it when he saw it on Amazon.

Supposedly, it lights up blue when it comes in contact with spirits, and if it encounters a full-on ghost, it flashes red and makes an accompanying beeping sound. The difference between the two entities, it seems, would be whether the spirit can manifest itself in some way, which has something to do with the amount energy it can control. If the device doesn’t sense anything, it stays green. To test it, Seiji took it around the SoraNews24 office before he went on his trip; it showed everything as normal there. He also checked his apartment, which was all green, too. Based on that, he determined that it doesn’t seem to just go off for no reason.

So anyway, on to the actual results of his exploration of Chillingham Castle. Before even entering through the doors, he checked out the garden in front; there, the light turned blue. Though this was intriguing, what Seiji really wanted to see were some actual haunting ghosts, so he moved on through the doors.

First, he went to the dungeon. It was pretty dark in there–despite it being early afternoon–and the thick humidity of the space gives it a pretty spooky feel.

Seiji really expected some ghosts to come out there, so he got out his handy Baketan Reiseki…

And it stayed green. Apparently there are no ghosts here, or if there are, they don’t want to be found. Seiji had the impression that English people are shy, having talked to a few during his trip, so he thought maybe these English ghosts would be shy, too.

He then moved on to the dining hall. Here, Seiji supposed, there was a good chance to encounter some ghosts. After all, this room must have been the place where the most soldiers gathered, a place to eat and relax before going off to war. Those who died nearby might be floating around here, where they spent their last days before dying.

But alas, it was green. It looks like the soldiers didn’t really feel like sticking around after death.

There are several reported cases of apparitions appearing in this castle, so there had to be ghosts somewhere. The last place Seiji checked was the torture room. Here Scottish prisoners were tortured and executed, so there must have been much suffering and many untimely deaths in this room. The cold wave of air that hit Seiji when he entered might have been proof alone that there were ghosts about there. Thinking he couldn’t miss the chance to get some evidence that ghosts exist, he turned on the Baketan Reiseki…

And it’ had turned blue! Another arrival of a spirit. Might this be the same spirit he encountered before? Or could this just be a power spot, brimming with the power of earth’s energy?

Either way, Seiji didn’t get to encounter any certified ghosts, so he judged Chillingham Castle to be not haunted. There do appear to be spirits, but unfortunately, Seiji’s trip ended without any exciting experiences of the unknown. He’d hoped that Chillingham would live up to its spooky reputation and the Baketan Reiseki would go off like a bell, but it is what it is, so it can’t be helped.

On the other hand, if it didn’t flash a red light at the “world’s most haunted place”, then where would it? Is the Baketan Reiseki really just a toy in the end?

One last time, Seiji turned on the little device just outside of the main gate and…

“Beep beep beep!”

They were outside the whole time?!

▼ A video of Seiji’s investigation

Well, that was Seiji’s amateur paranormal investigation. Perhaps he’ll take the Baketan Reiseki with him to other haunted spots, and see if he can come face to face with a real ghost. As the Halloween season approaches, we’ll just have to wait and see!

Photos ©SoraNews24
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